A Time for Reaping
by MichaelaElse
Summary: Sequel to 'To Sow a Seed in Time', Time-Turner. Hermione is transported to the 1940's by an item she received from the late Albus Dumbledore with a message - she was the one that located the first Horcruxes and left him clues as to where to find the Ring and Slytherin's Locket but nothing else is known about the would-be time-traveller Hermione Clearwater in her future or past.


**A/N:**Yes I've posted the first chapter to the Sequel when I haven't even posted (let alone written) it's original story. It's all here in my head but I just couldn't get this  
scene out of my head and I thought it would be better to write it and show it to you and gauge your reactions.

* * *

**Chapter I - Dog Knockers and Dark Valleys**

The Black Manor stood silent on a raised hill within the steep sharp confines of the valley, the sky was overcast, and the clouds dark and foreboding as the ever hanging threat of downpour taunted the earthbound creatures looking for shelter. A group of dark cloaked figures moved swiftly to the large stone house, a lone figure moved within the group with unhurried long languid strides towards the large wooden doors. The helm man arrived at the foyer first and knocked at the hardwood door with the antique bronze knocker, the door creaked at the mistreatment, and the man quickly relinquished his grip upon the ring suspended around the Dog Motif's collar.

Its gaping jaws twitched before light began to glow within its recess eyes.  
"Who goes to the House of Black?" a low echoing baritone emitted from the gaping jaws of the grotesque gothic canine knocker.

The hooded figure relinquished himself of his hood, his platinum blond hair a beacon within the darkness of the enclosed ante chamber.  
"I, Abraxas Malfoy to see Alphard Black, the Master of this House," he said, his voice calculated and controlled as the light from within the recessed eyes of the Dog extinguished upon recognising the voice of a honoured guest and the doors creaked as the unmistakable clunks of locks magically unlocking themselves could be heard before the large door creaked open on ancient hinges to let them enter the property.

Abraxas moved aside as the tall cloaked figure in the centre of the group entered the entrance hall, it was dark and full of dark wooden panelling on the walls, the large staircase faced them across the black and white tiled foyer, the dark aura was oppressing to most of this new age but the hooded figures along with Abraxas was at ease with the atmosphere as they entered after their Lord and Master with no complaints, the heavy door swung shut behind them after mere moments after they vacated the cold void the open door allowed. Torches that hung on the wall strung to life, fire breathed to life and danced as they ate at the oxygen itself.

With an audible crack a lone house-elf appeared before the group, its head bowed in respect, it's large bat like ears flopped to hide his face before he lifted his head to gaze at their feet.  
"Tinker at your service, welcome to the House of Black, Mr Malfoy, sir," the younger house-elf hastily spoke, his voice shook. The house-elf was clad in a black sweater with a large steel blue 'T' on his chest, black shorts and slippers.

"Divest us of our cloaks will you," The low voice of the central hooded figure droned out as he lifted the hood from his head to reveal his identity. "Where is your Master, I do not like to be kept waiting," he added as he shrugged his cloak from his shoulder to pool around his feet before taking a step forward, his footfalls audible on the marbled floor as he gazed down at the now shaking elf, a smirk appeared on his features – he only needed to speak and this loathsome creature realised who was in its company.

"My Lord, Master Black is not here –"his voice quivered as he peeked up at the Dark Lord but not high enough to gaze into a superior's eyes and cause disrespect for the House of Black. "But he ordered refreshments and his apologies and offered for you to await his return in the Library" the house-elf finished his voice so squeaking and high he thought he would faint as he cowered, lowering himself almost to lie on the floor in a kowtow at the Lord's feet.

Tinker clicked his fingers and the cloaks on the backs of the men vanished along with the cloak discarded upon the floor. The mud that smeared the tiled foyer and their boots vanished and the door across the foyer to their right opened of its own accord.

Doholov and Avery nodded in acceptance as their Master looked over to them, they hastened to the open door and scoped the darkened room that exploded with light as lamps were set ablaze and the thick heavy drapes were pulled back from the window to let the white- even though subdued- natural light into the room yet the entrance hall remained dark.

Abraxas, Lestrange and Riddle made their way to the door to the Library their ignorance of the still cowering house-elf an unspoken act of dismissal. Yet their leader halted before they entered the room and gestured them to wait, his head shot to empty stairway and the landing before the next flight of steps turned a whole 180 degrees and followed the wall to the next floor. A string of hisses cut the silence along with a concession of light thumps and a scratching noise as something was dragged along the stairs runner, another string of hissing but these seemed somewhat more laboured before a long slender figure appeared on the landing before gliding down the last flight of stairs and began to slither along the tiled floor towards the only figure that seemed at ease with the sudden appearance of a snake. Abraxas and Lestrange had somewhere throughout their gawking at the approaching juvenile creature towards their Master, they drew their wands and pointed them at the snake.

Riddle looked down at the young snake with interest that wound its body around his leg, he held up his hand to still his followers that included the returned Doholov and Avery before a ruckus erupted as hastened footfalls.

A child appeared on the landing, he didn't look all that old and with his unruly black hair made Riddle do a double take, he surely reminded him of Alphard and his Mother combined but the child didn't look at anyone other than The Dark Lord's leg or rather the snake that wound it's body around and nestled itself around his ankle and its head on his boot in a bid to keep its body off the freezing tiles.  
"Morgana!" the boy hissed in anger as he took a menacing step down, the snake in question lifted its head and gazed and flicked its forked tongue into the air and hissed something incompressible.  
"Come here, we don't attach ourselves to guests" he replied, his voice controlled as the snakes head bobbed and slowly began to uncoil from the man's leg and gracefully slithered back to her master, hissing somewhat disgruntled and coiled around the boy but didn't stop at his leg and began to climb until she was nestled around his shoulders, her small triangular head butting against his cheek in forgiveness. The boy totally forgot he had company and opened his mouth but closed it with an audible snap when his house-elf interrupted him.

"Master Hydrus!" Tinker exclaimed in alarm at his sudden appearance on the stairway but turned towards The Dark Lord. "Please forgive Morgana– Master's snake is only a child herself!"

His eyes trailed from the cowering house-elf and towards the boy that stood upon the stairs staring straight at him, dark eyes staring into matching dark eyes but in this muted light he couldn't be sure if they were dark brown like his Mother's or dark blue like Alphard's. He saw a hint of fear in those child orbs at the mention of Morgana and the suffocating atmosphere that Riddle radiated unconsciously as he gazed steadfast; the child was smart to remain on half way up the flight of stairs, safe in his distance and knowledge he could remain at eye level with the grown men in the foyer.

"Ah- so who might you be?" Riddle asked his voice deceptively cheery to accommodate the child's natural trusting nature.

Hydrus stood still, his posture rigid and as small frown as he gazed at the man that questioned him being here. "I'm Hydrus Black – I live here, Sir." He politely replied even though his voice was strained and his sentence disjointed in what appeared to be insecurity to the untrained eye.  
He took a tentative step down.  
"Excuse me sir, but you're a guest in My Father's home and I do not know your name," he said as he took another step after another until he hit the tiles of the foyer, he tilted his head to keep his eyes on the unknown man's face and cocked it to the side in curiosity. _Much like a Dog,_ Riddle inwardly mused with a polite smile on his face.  
"You don't need to know my name, Black" Riddle replied politely even though the undertone that he put across was anything but, it was hostile and a warning to end the childish inquiry.

His lips thinned into a straight almost unnoticeable line, his eyebrows knitted together as he tried to hold his tongue, he wouldn't disrespect the man and loose his Father's honour with the stranger. He gave a curt nod before his face became unreadable and then brightened up with a polite smile.  
He turned his attention to Abraxas then to the other men, some of the faces he found familiar but none like Abraxas.

Abraxas took the initiative after long moments of silence to strike up a conversation with the boy, Hydrus turned his attention onto the blonde man and the others left including their Lord to enter the Library.

"So, Hydrus, do you know where your Father went?" he openly asked, his voice light as he tried to manipulate the boy into conversation that would herald results.

"Father didn't say- something about meeting Mother at Hogwarts" he added, he was rewarded with raised eyebrows from the blonde man.

"Do—," Abraxas' questioning was cut short when someone cleared their throat and both turned to the open Library, the dark haired Doholov appeared at the door.

"Why don't you both join us? Our Lord doesn't like to be kept waiting," he asked, his voice was anything but light in question, his voice was controlling and dark almost like he was ordering them both to the Library. Hydrus stood rooted to the spot for a moment, sheer fear coursed through his veins before it subsided as Morgana shifted around his shoulders – proving to be a useful distraction to lift him from his emotions as he rushed to Abraxas' heel that had entered the Library while Hydrus was within his wide-eyed stupor.

He glanced down at Morgana, she hissed contently in his ear before he opened his mouth.  
_"Go upstairs, Father will be home soon"_

A string of disgruntled hisses waned into silence as Morgana slithered from up the stairs and out of sight back to his bedroom and her tank, she really didn't like the Scottish weather.

He entered the Library, trying to keep his posture straight and confident even though he battled with himself all the way to where the group of men was seated, all the seats were taken bar one, a smaller version of a wing backed chair that the strange man – who he believed to be the Leader of this gang – was seated. He was sitting in his Father's chair, while the only remaining chair that was vacant was made for a child and it was his own personal chair.

He came to stand in front of them all, not wanting to venture into the space that the furniture created in their arrangement in the centre of the room.  
"I'm sorry to bother you but I should be leaving you to your business-," he began but was interrupted as he tried to offer his sincere apologises for not joining them.

"Nonsense, please join us, we would like to know more about Alphard's son," Riddle interjected, punctuated his dismissal of Hydrus' apologies with a flick of his hand with a lazy wrist. "Please sit", again he gestured to the miniature chair with a flick of his right left hand.

Slowly Hydrus began to edge closer to his chair, his pace growing stronger with each stride and all before long he sat back in his chair staring at the mysterious man before looking at three on the couch to his left, and two men behind his chair near with window. He glanced back at the man he didn't know – he was tall about 6'0 with black hair and dark eyes, his skin was pale, his face was chiselled in a handsome way with high cheekbones, and everything on his face was in proportion to the structure of his face.

He felt underdressed as Riddle scrutinized him with his eyes; everyone was wearing black wizarding robes while he was wearing grey muggle shorts that just ended before the knee, a white shirt under a sleeveless woollen jumper in the shades of grey- matching his outfit- blue and black.

The silence was unbearable and Hyrdus began to shift in his seat nervously, he didn't fidget that often but he hated to be stared at, he looked about the room trying to find something to focus his attentions on to get rid of that violated feeling of being watched constantly. It was at that moment that a bowl of fruit and three jugs appeared along with a tray of glasses on the side table against the wall next to the door to his Father's trophy room across from the window. A man from the window wordlessly without instructions went over to the recently appeared refreshments and placed the bowl of fruit on the low table in the centre of the seating arrangement.

A hive of activity followed as glasses were hovering in the air along with jugs as glasses were poured with beverages, the butterbeer jug was emptied but refilled magically as it was passed around the men, the mysterious man declined everything. Hydrus looked around; no one was paying attention to him as small talk between the men erupted with pauses between speeches as they took a swig of their drinks. He lifted his left hand and stared at the fruit bowl, an orange took flight at a slow pace before it picked up speed with a slight bobbing here and there before it hovered above his hand by a foot before its peel began to unravel itself from the fruit a winding even ravel. The pieces of the orange parted ways, the white connective matter disappearing into nothingness along with the skin, a piece of fruit slowly descended into his waiting hand before he raised it to his mouth and ate it in one, silently chewing savouring the sour tang along with its sweet juices, he licked his lips before offering his hand for another piece that manoeuvred into his waiting hand from alongside its hovering brethren.

"Did you learn that at Hogwarts?"

The voice made him jolt in shock, the orange pieces that where hovering jolted along with him and freefell a few inches before ascending back to their original height.  
"Huh?"  
Then he looked back up to the orange pieces and back to the man in front of him.  
"Oh, that?" he questioned and his new acquaintance nodded. "No, I'm not due to start Hogwarts until this September, Sir" Hyrdus replied politely before stuffing the orange into his mouth to silence him before he blabbered on about nonsense like he always did when someone asked how he did this and that.

A smile appeared on the man's features as he reclined back in his seat, crossing his left leg to perch on his knee as he gazed at Hydrus. Such talent at a young age with no formal training and probably without a wand considering his age – he wouldn't be getting his wand until he went to get his school supplies at Diagon Alley just before term start.  
"When did you turn Eleven?" he simply asked, his question little out of the ordinary, his voice light as he looked at Hyrdus, the boy seemed on edge, he could unconsciously pick up his magic – excellent – the boy was sensitive to the magic around him.

"This May" was Hydrus' straight forward and honest reply, seeing the darkened look that edged him to elaborate his answer. "May 1st"

All of the men halted their banter as they gazed at the boy and their Master in awe and confusion. The boy was born on the day of Walpurgis. As their Master's face began to darken further as he studied Hydrus with greedy interest.

"Do you know when in the day you were born?" Doholov asked eagerly, seeing the look on his Lord's face he knew that he couldn't continue to be light and persuasive with a child at this age.

Hydrus turned to the dark haired man sitting on the couch along with Abraxas and Lestrange; he lightly shrugged his shoulders before answering.  
"I don't know precisely when I was born but I was born in the witching hours" he said innocently. The men hushed and looked to their Leader for guidance, yet he remained silent and observed the boy.

A high bird's call sounded, it's long lyrical call detached and distinctly recognisable as a phoenix before an audible 'pop' and an ornate chessboard hovered in front of Hydrus just above the height of his knees, a white knight hopped over its own pawns onto a black square within striking distance of an enemy pawn. The board looked to be within a middle of an active game. All of the men on the couch and the two men at the window drew their wands at the noise; they seemed to be on high alert.  
"Finally, he's moved" Hydrus muttered, oblivious to the men's reactions all but one, before bringing his attention to the chessboard his eyes darting from one side of the board to another as if he was watching each side move numerous moves before he grimaced and unceremoniously flounced back into his chair. "Two weeks and he comes up with _that_" he muttered, his voice sour as he glared at the offending knight as if he was looking at his opponent.

An amused chuckle caught his attention, he whipped his head round to glare at the offending man – it was that mystery bloke – and if looks could kill, he would be seeing a very much alive man still sat there as he was still smirking, his eyes full of mirth at the attempt of intimidation from a slip of a boy. Riddle leaned forward, his perched leg planted itself onto the floor and his elbows dug into the flesh of his knees with his fingers linked as he gazed at Hydrus in amusement.  
"Someone moved where you thought they wouldn't?" he asked lightly, this boy very much intrigued him. The way he pouted and knotted his eyebrows in concentration was very much like his Mother.  
"No, he moved where I thought he would even though I tried to manipulate him to do the opposite-old coot- Gryffindors' never usually play this dirty, giving me an ultimatum" Hydrus muttered in agitation as he leaned forward also to go over the possible moves. The last segment of orange floated down into his hand before taking it to his mouth, chewed and swallowed.

"An Ultimatum?"

"Yes, I had three plans of attack to gain checkmate until he did _that_ and now I have to choose one and stick with it," Hydrus answered not taking his eyes off the chessboard as he put a hand to his chin as he cradled it in contemplation. "Queen to E4" he called out, the Queen began to slide forwards to her designated square and attacked an enemy pawn before taking the square regally. The board entered a vacuum like state much like a port key and vanished with an audible 'crack'.

"Who are you playing against?" Riddle casually asked as he watched the board with boredom on his face, teleporting chessboards were somewhat rare, you didn't find many on the open market as it took many years for the transportation spells to mature and maintain. He had the niggling feeling he already knew – the reference of Gryffindors and the derogatory term of 'old coot' the boy used.

"Professor Dumbledore" Hydrus promptly replied and began to blabber on. "The most challenging game I've had in a while – Mother becomes impatient and careless and Father is downright stupid in his choices." Hydrus commented with a straight face, this child was forever serious unlike his Gryffindor Mother and silly Father – how Alphard ended up in Slytherin he would never know, maybe the Slytherin seriousness and intellect skipped a generation in the Blacks?

Their conversation was cut short by the front door swinging open – the howling Scottish wind whipping into the household as hastened footsteps- two pairs- rounded on the Library entrance from the foyer. Two figures dressed in travelling cloaks appeared, one tall with broad shoulders and distinctly male while the slight figure next to him was feminine. Mr and Mrs Black was home.

"Mother – Father" Hydrus exclaimed jumping to his feet and hastened away from the guests and towards his parents, his whole body language changed, the look his Mother was giving him and the rest of the guests and back to her son was testament to her dislike of these guests socialising with her son. Her plain thick black cloak hung over her body in a flattering feminine way, accenting her womanly curves, giving a peek to her dark ruby dress robes underneath. Her hand came to pet Hydrus' head before ushering him out of the Library.

"Upstairs with you"

The boy thought better of objecting, snapping his mouth shut with an audible 'snap' and rushed out of the library.


End file.
